 The American Legion
National Commander
Paul A. Morin
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From The American Legion National Headquarters:
Your Voice Was Heard!
PERA Passed the House 244-173
(How Representatives Voted - Below)
Commander Morin
Urges The American Legion Family
to Contact Their Senators Now ~ Take Action!
Our voices were heard and the House of Representatives passed H.R. 2679, the Veterans’ Memorials, Boy Scouts, Public Seals, and Other Public Expressions of Religion Protection Act of 2006 (PERA). The House passed PERA by a vote of 244 to 173 on Tuesday, September 26.
The passage of this legislation brings us one step closer to preventing legal groups, like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), from collecting attorney’s fees from the defendants they sue in Establishment clause cases. Eliminating these monetary awards will free citizens to stand up for their constitutional rights and freedoms and not face crippling judgments and attorney’s fees imposed upon them by activist judges.
"I can't say enough how pleased I am by the passage of H.R. 2679 in the House of Representatives," said National Commander Paul A. Morin. "A special thanks goes to Representative John N. Hostettler of Indiana for championing this needed legislation on behalf of all taxpayers in the name of religious expression. The American Legion remains committed to preserving Veterans' memorials from litigation brought on by the ACLU and other organizations seeking removal of such symbols from the public square. I hope the companion legislation introduced by Senator Sam Brownback in the Senate (S. 3696) will pass as quickly."
Representative Hostettler said the ACLU and similar groups are "profiteering" as well as seeking "to remove every vestige of our religious heritage from public places." He introduced the Public Expression of Religion Act to restore the right of communities to defend themselves and remove the financial threat used by the ACLU and other organizations. PERA only eliminates the award of attorney's fees; injunctive relief is still available as the remedy in successful cases. Representative Hostettler said “…[this] victory was the result of countless volunteer hours on the part of American patriots who made phone calls, wrote letters, spoke to friends and neighbors, and gave of their time to ensure the passage of this legislation. Because of what we did, veterans who choose to fight to keep their war memorials intact can do so without the threat of prohibitive attorney’s fees.”
Commander Morin said, “Our fight to end ‘judicial blackmail” now goes to the Senate. On behalf of the 2.7 million veterans of The American Legion, I strongly urge all Senators to pass PERA legislation.” This bill is ready for debate in the Senate Judiciary Committee headed by Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania.”
Commander Morin said passing PERA removes the ‘chilling’ effect posed by the threat of hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees that may be paid to ACLU attorneys. This ‘chilling’ effect results from the financial threat to cities and municipalities by potential litigants seeking civil damages and attorney fees under Title 42 United States Code 1988. This threat alone in many cases has compelled people who have every right to defend themselves to instead settle out of court. More and more public officials are settling out-of-court rather than fighting for their rights because of threats of huge attorney’s fees and financial hardship. PERA allows these public officials to defend the symbols and expressions of our nation’s religious heritage rather than be economically coerced to settle claims out of court.
This legislation, if enacted, eliminates the threat of ‘judicial blackmail’ on the constitutionally protected expression of religion by state and local officials by taking away the authority of activist judges to award huge attorney fees in litigation against religious symbols at veterans’ memorials, the Boy Scouts, public seals, and open displays of America’s religious heritage.
“The real threat of such judge-ordered fees is that they have terrorized local elected officials into surrendering to the plaintiff’s demands to remove religious symbols, such as crosses from veterans’ memorials, city logos, police badges, and any public environment where the rich religious heritage of the nation flourishes,” Commander Morin said. “It is time to put an end to this outrageous exploitation of a law designed to encourage individual plaintiffs injured by racial discrimination to seek judicial relief. Attorney-fee awards, although discretionary with a trial judge, are usually approved for the prevailing party; however, some have twisted this civil rights legislation to achieve results The American Legion believes Congress never intended. The American Legion fully supports this legislation because it fairly addresses the constitutionally protected expression of religion and rectifies the excessive awards of attorney fees paid from public funds,” Morin concluded.
The Congress recesses for the election campaigns on Friday, September 29. From then until Election Day Commander Morin encourages everyone to ask their candidates running for U. S. Senate to explain what their position on PERA and encourage them to support this bill in the post-election ‘lame duck’ session that begins on November 13 should they be elected.
Most importantly, Commander Morin asks The American Legion family to once again join him by writing to both their US senators and ask them to vote FOR S. 3696. In addition, those PERA supporters whose representatives voted FOR H.R. 2679 should be sent a note of thanks for their support of the bill.
Recap of House of Representatives vote on PERA
September 26, 2006 at 6:10 pm (EDT)
Republican 218 Yeas, 6 Nays, 6 did not vote
Democrats 26 Yeas, 166 Nays, 9 did not vote
Independent 1 Nay
Total 244 Yeas, 173 Nays, 15 did not vote
Yeas – 218
Aderholt, Akin, Alexander, Bachus, Baker, Barrett (SC), Barrow, Bartlett (MD), Barton (TX), Bass, Beauprez, Berry, Bilbray, Bilirakis, Bishop (UT), Blackburn, Blunt, Boehner, Bonilla, Bonner, Bono, Boozman, Boren, Boustany, Boyd, Bradley (NH), Brady (TX), Brown (SC), Brown-Waite, Ginny, Burgess, Burton (IN), Buyer, Calvert, Camp (MI), Campbell (CA), Cannon, Cantor, Capito, Cardoza, Carter, Chabot, Chocola, Coble, Cole (OK), Conaway, Costa, Cramer, Crenshaw,Cubin, Cuellar, Culberson, Davis (KY), Davis (TN), Davis, Jo Ann Davis, Tom, Deal (GA), Dent, Diaz-Balart, L. Diaz-Balart, M., Doolittle, Drake, Dreier, Duncan, Ehlers, Emerson, English (PA), Everett, Feeney, Ferguson, Fitzpatrick (PA), Flake, Foley, Forbes, Fortenberry, Fossella, Foxx, Franks (AZ), Frelinghuysen, Gallegly, Garrett (NJ), Gerlach, Gibbons, Gillmor, Gingrey, Gohmert, Goode, Goodlatte, Gordon, Granger, Graves, Gutknecht, Hall, Harris, Hart, Hastings (WA), Hayes, Hayworth, Hefley, Hensarling, Herger, Herseth, Hinojosa, Hobson, Hoekstra, Hostettler, Hulshof, Hunter, Hyde, Inglis (SC), Issa, Jenkins, Jindal, Johnson (CT), Johnson (IL), Johnson, Sam, Jones (NC), Keller, Kelly, Kennedy (MN), King (IA), King (NY), Kingston, Kline, Knollenberg, Kolbe, Kuhl (NY), LaHood, Latham, LaTourette, Leach, Lewis (CA), Lewis (KY), Linder, Lipinski, LoBiondo, Lucas, Lungren, Daniel E., Mack, Manzullo, Marchant, Marshall, Matheson, McCaul (TX), McCotter, McCrery, McHenry, McHugh, McIntyre, McKeon, McMorris Rodgers, Melancon, Mica, Miller (FL), Miller, Gary, Moran (KS), Murphy, Musgrave, Myrick, Neugebauer, Northup, Norwood, Nunes, Ortiz, Osborne, Otter, Oxley, Paul, Pearce, Pence, Peterson (MN), Peterson (PA), Petri, Pickering, Pitts, Platts, Poe, Porter, Price (GA), Pryce (OH), Putnam, Radanovich, Rahall, Ramstad, Regula, Rehberg, Reichert, Renzi, Reynolds, Rogers (AL), Rogers (KY), Rogers (MI), Rohrabacher, Ros-Lehtinen, Ross, Royce, Ryan (WI), Ryun (KS), Salazar, Saxton, Schmidt, Schwarz (MI), Scott (GA), Sensenbrenner, Sessions, Shadegg, Shaw, Sherwood, Shimkus, Shuster, Simmons, Simpson, Skelton, Smith (NJ), Smith (TX), Sodrel, Souder, Spratt, Stearns, Sullivan, Sweeney, Tancredo, Taylor (MS), Taylor (NC), Terry, Thomas, Thornberry, Tiahrt, Tiberi ,Turner, Upton, Walden (OR), Walsh, Wamp, Weldon (FL), Weldon (PA), Weller, Westmoreland, Whitfield, Wicker, Wilson (NM), Wilson (SC), Wolf, Young (AK), Young (FL)
Nays – 173
Abercrombie, Ackerman, Allen, Andrew, Baca, Baird, Baldwin, Bean, Becerra, Berkley, Berman, Biggert, Bishop (GA), Bishop (NY), Blumenauer, Boehlert, Boswell, Boucher, Brady (PA), Brown, Corrine, Butterfield, Capps, Capuano, Cardin, Carnahan, Carson, Case, Chandler, Clay, Cleaver, Clyburn, Conyers, Cooper, Costello, Crowley, Cummings, Davis (AL), Davis (CA), Davis (IL), DeFazio, DeGette, Delahunt, DeLauro, Dicks, Dingell, Doggett, Doyle, Edwards, Emanuel, Engel, Eshoo, Etheridge, Farr, Fattah, Filner, Frank (MA), Gilchrest, Gonzalez, Green, Al, Green, Gene, Grijalva, Gutierrez, Harman, Hastings (FL), Higgins, Hinchey, Holden, Holt, Honda, Hooley, Hoyer, Inslee, Israel, Jackson (IL), Jackson-Lee (TX), Johnson, E. B., Jones (OH), Kanjorski, Kaptur, Kennedy (RI), Kildee, Kilpatrick (MI), Kind, Kirk, Kucinich, Langevin, Lantos, Larsen (WA), Larson (CT), Lee, Levin, Lofgren, Zoe, Lowey, Lynch, Maloney, Markey, Matsui, McCarthy, McCollum (MN), McDermott, McGovern, McKinney, McNulty, Meek (FL), Meeks (NY), Michaud, Miller (MI), Miller (NC), Miller, George, Mollohan, Moore (KS), Moore (WI), Moran (VA), Murtha, Nadler, Napolitano, Neal (MA), Oberstar, Obey, Olver, Owens, Pallone, Pascrell, Pastor, Payne, Pelosi, Pomeroy, Price (NC), Rangel, Reyes, Rothman, Roybal-Allard, Ruppersberger, Rush, Ryan (OH), Sabo, Sánchez, Linda T., Sanchez, Loretta, Sanders, Schakowsky, Schiff, Schwartz (PA), Scott (VA), Serrano, Shays, Sherman, Slaughter, Smith (WA), Snyder, Solis, Stark, Stupak, Tanner, Tauscher, Thompson (CA), Thompson (MS), Tierney, Towns, Udall (CO), Udall (NM), Van Hollen, Velázquez, Visclosky, Wasserman Schultz, Waters, Watson, Watt, Waxman, Weiner, Wexler, Woolsey, Wu, Wynn
Not Voting
Brown (OH), Castle, Davis (FL), Evans, Ford, Green (WI), Istook, Jefferson, Lewis (GA), Meehan, Millender-McDonald, Ney, Nussle, Pombo, Strickland
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